High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In British English slang, a toff is a mildly derogatory term for someone with an aristocratic background or belonging to the landed gentry, particularly someone who exudes an air of superiority. For instance, The Toff, a character from the series of adventure novels by John Creasey is an upper-class crime sleuth, who uses a common caricature of a toff - a line drawing with a top hat, monocle, bow-tie and cigarette with a holder - as his calling card.